Book of Rules
by guitarsNthings
Summary: They were his rules. And his rules were meant to be broken. Ten short drabbles, a prologue, and an epilogue. Eli/Ria, Ria/?
1. Prologue

**Book of Rules**

* * *

**Rule #1: If you like a coworker, keep it to yourself.****  
Rule #2: Never date a coworker****  
Rule #3: On cases, play by the rules.****  
Rule #4: If you happen to date a coworker, keep it out of work.****  
Rule #5: Always tell the truth.****  
Rule #6: Don't involve the boss with your relationships.****  
Rule #7: Break up with said coworker.****  
Rule #8: Don't ever lie to the boss.****  
Rule #9: Do NOT like the boss.****  
Rule #10: Finally, don't date the boss.**

* * *

**Prologue**

Everyone has rules. Even Ria Torres and Eli Loker. But a certain set of rules set in place by Cal Lightman are just meant to be broken. And break the rules, they did. All of them.

And it was on purpose.


	2. Rule 1

**Rule #1**

The list seemed like it was so easy to stick to. Don't date a coworker or your boss and you won't be held under a microscope. Or in Ria Torres' case, the intense scrutiny of every single person she worked with. But it wasn't her boss she liked. It was Eli Loker. Well, at first. Because all rules are meant to be broken, they broke Rule #1: If you like a coworker, keep it to yourself.

And really, what rule isn't meant to be broken?


	3. Rule 2

**Rule #2**

Ria and Eli were dating. It was obvious the moment they stepped inside the Center, it was obvious. The air between them was different. Even if they didn't want to admit it. Of course, they broke Rule #2 soon after they broke Rule #1. Rule #2: Never date a coworker. It was classic Eli to tell her on a dinner "date" that he liked her and wanted to date her permanently. But Ria didn't tell him that.

Because in all seriousness, she knew he was going to tell her that.


	4. Rule 3

**Rule #3**

Eli had always wanted to play a married couple with Ria. So on a case, when they were teamed up to investigate a high profile divorce in the making, they got lucky. Walking in, holding hands, and suddenly fighting in front of the man and woman. But they played by the rules. Rule #3: On cases, play by the rules. This was the only rule the two didn't break. And it was a relief.

Ria knew that Eli had enjoyed it anyways.


	5. Rule 4

**Rule #4**

Their relationship quickly became public, thus breaking Rule #4: If you happen to date a coworker, keep it out of work. Ria and Eli would be often seen in the break room, sharing a kiss, a hug, or sharing lunch and swapping stories. It peeved Cal to know that the natural had found a confidant in Eli, and ended up dating him.

It peeved him to the bone.


	6. Rule 5

**Rule #5**

Rule #5: Always tell the truth. This was a hard one for Ria. She couldn't tell Gillian what she and Eli did on weekends, but she very well knew that she couldn't tell her own boss. So she took out her frustrations on a journal. Her fierce handwriting covered page after page, documenting each fight, each argument, each kiss and each night of passion.

But she knew Eli had told. Him and his radical honesty.


	7. Rule 6

**Rule #6**

It was hard for Eli not to tell Cal about his relationship with Ria. Maybe he would have advice for him. Rule #6: Don't involve the boss with your relationships. This one was hard for Eli. He wanted to tell Cal everything, every fight, every stupid argument, and about every night he spent with Ria. But he knew he couldn't.

And that's why he kept to Rule #6.


	8. Rule 7

**Rule #7**

It ended three months later for Eli and Ria. An ugly breakup forced them to avoid each other, thus fulfilling Rule #7: Break up with said coworker. Ria had wanted the relationship to last, yes, but she never thought that it would end in a fight. Together they had broken almost every one of Cal's rules. But there were still rules to be broken, and Ria didn't intend on breaking those last three rules.

But the inevitable happened.


	9. Rule 8

**Rule #8**

Ria broke the eighth rule in a week of her breakup with Eli. She lied to Cal almost every day about her feelings. A forced smile here or there, and a simple yet ironically fitting euphemism for her real emotions. Of course, Rule #8: Don't ever lie to the boss, was beyond broken with her. After all those hours of keeping her past from him, he had seen through her. She lied anyways.

Maybe, just maybe, he saw the new lies she crafted about her relationship with Eli.


	10. Rule 9

**Rule #9**

Ria had avoided Eli for a month. And that's when she started to develop a crush on a certain Cal Lightman. She kept it from him for a while, but then he offered her a case to work on with him. In a moment, she went from sad, borderline depressed, to nearly giddy with relief that she didn't have to work with Eli. She let her feelings for Cal grow, and soon, it was getting hard to hide those feelings. Rule #9: Do NOT like the boss.

So she kept those feelings from him.


	11. Rule 10

**Rule #10**

Rule #10: Finally, don't date the boss. That was broken when Cal invited Ria out to dinner. She accepted. She had finally gotten rid of her painful memory of her relationship with Eli. And Cal was growing on her. They began to date, and after a while, Ria knew that this relationship would last for a long time.

And here ends the rules. All 10, and not all of them broken. But the ones that are broken are the ones that are not meant to be kept.


	12. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

_...And that's how I ended up dating my boss...and –_

"Ria?" Cal appeared in the doorway to their bedroom. Not his or hers. Theirs. Ria looked up at him, watching as he glanced from her to the journal.

"Yeah, Cal?" He sat down on the bed and peered into the journal. "Writing about us." Ria finished the sentence, and Cal read the last paragraph out loud.

"I ended up breaking most of the rules, but I ended up walking down an aisle to a new life. I know that Eli's jealous, but I love Cal." Ria blushed slightly, and Cal leaned over to kiss her.

"Keep reading." Cal sighed.

"And that's how I ended up dating my boss...and husband." Cal closed the journal. "You've been writing about us?" Ria smiled, the tiredness in her smile showing through. She yawned and nodded.

"Yeah. Well, technically, about my time in the Lightman Group." Cal glanced at the journal.

"Even about Loker?"

"Yeah. Even about Eli." Cal pulled the journal away from her and set it on the dresser. "But I think I might be done. I only have three pages left." That night, when they lay in bed together, she was awake, despite how tired she was. "Cal?"

"Hmm? What is it, love?"

"I love you." His response was muffled when he kissed her lips.

"I love you too, Ria."


End file.
